10 Must-Read Books by Women in Translation (WIT Month 2023)

[@rajeshwari3662]

Coming from Jack's channel❤

[@containutil]

Ana Paula Maia is one of my favorite authors of contemporary Brazilian literature. Very happy to see her in this video. I hope you have the chance to read other Brazilian authors. I loved the channel.

[@val.daffodils]

Recent sub here! I’m going through your vids and I ADORE the way you talk about books! Absolutely brilliant ! :) I wanna read everything you recommend ahahah

[@barbaradora]

1:32 that Dutch pronunciation was perfect! And now I’m here, let me quickly squeeze in that my first novel was translated into English and published just NOW (July 13th). And I’m a woman. So there you go 😊 (Alone - Barbara De Smedt)

[@ritasdovee]

Ugh, I loved that you've mentioned this (WIT). I had no clue about it. A book I recently ordered (The Diary of Anaïs Nin Vol. 1) came in today and I now feel more than ever encouraged to read it. Absolutely enjoy your videos Willow. Keep up the astounding reviews.

[@guaoa5715]

Hi! Argentinian here :) I LOVED A Little Luck, must recommend reading Cathedrals as soon as it is translated.

[@sylviakanel9766]

Thank you again for such compelling work, Willow. I always leave your videos enriched by your "telling" of books. You dont just report, you tell how you have related to a book and that is a kind of storytelling in itself. I take away a real sense of human connection. Even if a book is not something I want to read myself, I certainly do want to listen to you tell me about it. If you have the courage to face some of those I don't, I can at least bear to hear about them in the shelter of your responses.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

This is so kind and beautiful, thank you 💜

[@sylviakanel9766]

Thank you, Willow.❤

[@HollyDunnDesign]

I read Honeybees and Distant Thunder on your recommendation and it is an absolute MASTERPIECE. Thank you so much for introducing me to a new favourite.

[@itszoway22]

Truly one of the best BookTube channels! Great list of must-reads!

[@shelleytaylor1778]

Thank you for the recommendations. Jack Edwards introduced me to your channel and I look forward to following!

[@meganmadkour9328]

You are quickly becoming one of my favorite booktubers! I love your videos! Thank you.

[@anagord105]

when you were talking about Birth Canal, i got reminded of another book: Catch the Rabbit is also translated from the bosnian language by the author herself (Lana Bastašić), great short novel and book from southeastern European modern literature (which is practically invisible in online book spaces, so i wanted to give a shout-out :)

[@kanyari]

Oh, a book about piano competition - why yes, I want to be retraumatized, or find a book that will help me with healing. I didn't know about WIT, thank you for inspiration.

[@vitareads]

I hadn't heard of WIT month, but I love this! 🖤

[@radiantchristina]

WIT month is the most wonderful time of the year 💞 I must admit, I purchased Hit Parade of Tears for the cover (something I rarely do), but also fell head over heals in love with the stories. There wasn't one story I didn't love. A Little Luck and Greek Lessons are on my TBR for this month.

[@user-yg6ft1iu1i]

Another great list, can’t wait to pick some of these up as well as getting to my pile I save for WIT month

[@saly4762]

A thank you comment: first and foremost I want to thank you for being you ❤ and secondly I really can’t thank you enough for all the book recommendations, specially translated books 📚 I was a girl who only read Murakami 😂 i know I know now I know better thanks to you ❤ ❤❤ I’m glad to say I already read 5 of these books 📚 and can’t wait to read the rest. Fun fact: never heard of WIT before following you 😊

[@badfaith4u]

A fun list of books by women in translation.

[@emilysanders5020]

loved this new video! I will definitely check some, if not all, the books you mentioned!

[@POlivares23]

I don’t always comment on your videos, but thanks for all the unique recommendations!

[@MarinaUz]

Thank you for the recommendations! Your reviews always make me so intrigued in the books you talk about, I added some on my tbr ☺

[@ambernicoletv8189]

Jack Edwards sent me 🫡

[@WillowTalksBooks]

He’s a good lad :)

[@marcellainthemargins]

As a dutch viewer I'd say your pronounciation of Jente Posthuma is perfect!

[@RachaelsLibrary]

Your video is always entertaining and insightful. I want to read all of them.

[@qinlkpah]

Your Dutch pronunciation of Jente Posthuma was spot on...for some reason you nailed it 😊

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Seriously?? Well, I do happen to be amazing so 😇

[@shayngle]

Can’t wait to read Greek Lessons, Mouthful of Birds, and All Yours by Claudia Pinero! This month! Love your list as always :)

[@kawaiikitty4569]

I had no idea it was WIT month. Good thing I’m reading Han Kang’s Human Acts. I mean, what a book!

[@gizmo3702]

I haven't gotten the chance to read any of these books yet, but I am just after finishing "Paradais" by fernanda melchor and my mind was absolute blown. I am really excited to read more books in translation and this video definitely helped fill my tbr!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

She is so incredible

[@valeria-jr5oo]

Thank you for your recommendations! I will read The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (the italian translator is also a woman) 😊

[@amandar3467]

Have you heard of the book the Centre? It's a new book about a woman translator that explores translation and politics a bit, kind of spec-fic/dark academia. I'm half way through and think it's pretty interesting! It's not a work in translation but loosely related

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I heard about it and forgot to check it out! So thank you!

[@loveinthetimeofmrsa2542]

great recs!

[@lunalavender5027]

I was wondering if you or anyone else would know how to get a book selected for translation? I've heard of this Spanish author, Maria Elvira Bermudez, who has been labeled as the "Agatha Christie of Mexican Lit.". Sadly, none of her works have been translated into English.💜

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I think it’s usually up to translators. They search out books that haven’t been translated, translate a sample and pitch it to a publisher, and hope that they are then given the rights to translate the whole thing for publication.

[@callmebibliophile]

Translators does pitch books sometimes, but at least in my market (English into Spanish) is the minority. The publishers are the ones who select the books, whether is book fairs or just browsing the internet, seeing what peaks the public interest. Big publishing houses even hire people to read the books and then give the editors a complete report so they can choose, as reading hundreds of books a month while also editing the ones they already have is impossible@@WillowTalksBooks

[@MriInterocitor]

It sounds like you’ve got the material for a video on favorite presses and translators by now. Please consider doing that, thank you. :)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I have an article of my favourite UK-based indie presses but a video is a good idea!

[@isabellehall9217]

In regards to you saying it's rare that authors translate their novels, I agree but it reminded me of a Bosnian author - Lana Bastašić, who translated her novel 'Catch the Rabbit' into English. I highly recommend the book 😊

[@AnniesBookNook]

Very interested in reading honeybees and distant thunder, although I didn’t enjoy Riku Onda’s other novel

[@PaulineWM]

I’m Dutch and I’m not laughing 😊 Seriously love your videos!

[@Rand0mBubble]

Have you (or anyone who sees this) read I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman? It is a translated book and I finished it last month and haven’t stopped thinking about it.

[@janethansen9612]

I will finally be reading The vegetarian.

[@c.bennett6641]

Greek Lessons and Honeybees And Distant Thunder were both spectacular. I have to recommend my favorite book in translation of the year, Our Share Of Night by Mariana Enriquez, an Argentine novel that follows a tormented psychic and his son as they try to outrun their extremely powerful, evil family. It’s about magic and grief and love and intergenerational trauma, and the writing and translation are just stunning. Trigger warning for extreme violence, including child abuse, but if you can stomach it, i can’t recommend it highly enough

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Our Share of Night was my favourite book in translation of last year :) I did a video review and talked about it a lot in a few different videos. She’s one of my absolute favourites 💜

[@c.bennett6641]

@@WillowTalksBooks going back to watch asap!

[@miragailrala7890]

Hi Willow! I plan to buy a book in Hong Kong when I visit there in September. Do you have a recommendation that is written by an author from HK? I originally plan to buy a random book (most likely a classic) but buying a book by a local author would be lovely. Thank you! I love your content as always!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Good question! The only Hong Kong-born author who immediately springs to mind is Jin Yong, who wrote a series of wuxia fantasy martial arts historical novels that are crazy fun and really exciting :)

[@bookofdust]

I’m intrigued that you taught Steinbeck in the UK, he seems like such a quintessential regional American writer that wouldn’t necessarily translate literarily to other countries. Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden as just brilliant novels, but Of Mice and Men is such a bleak, heartbreaking tragedy that I feel only gets taught frequently in the US because it’s so short that students won’t be complaining more than a few weeks at most so the teacher feels they can slip it in. What other American Lit did you teach, any Tennessee Williams?

[@WillowTalksBooks]

You make a good point, and yeah we do also teach/learn Tennessee Williams. I think, when it comes to Steinbeck, the reasons are twofold: his themes are universal, especially within the western world. And the Americana style, tone, and setting are all things that we get from cultural osmosis anyway. I have several American friends who live in the UK and they all use American words for things because we know the American version but Americans don’t know the British version. American language, politics, culture, it’s all so universal 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@ratgirl107]

Willow! Have you read Dogs of Summer? i think you might like it!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I haven’t heard of it but I’ll check it out :)

[@rachel1021]

I'm gonna read Hit Parade of Tears and I just borrowed the audiobook for Greek Lessons. You really have excellent taste in literature. 😊

[@stacksnshelves]

Currently reading “Greek Lessons”. It’s a beautifully sad book. Hope you do enjoy listening to it.

[@christopherhara9744]

Why are translated books by women usually so dark? lol I love it

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It’s either that or it’s just my taste. Maybe both

[@mademoisellenepenthe9379]

🌸